Chapter Text
It’s Phil that spots him first.
It's a nice, clear day, as nice as a day can be in the middle of a tundra.
After Doomsday, it has been pretty peaceful for Technoblade, and honestly, he is quite enjoying it. He likes spending his days out here with Phil, just working on his potato farm and taking care of his turtles. Phil had upgraded their houses and now they both had their own little cabins. It's nice.
Which is why, when Techno hears a familiar blond kid speaking to his friend, he can’t help but let out a groan. He spent so much time and effort to finally settle down and not have to worry about conflicts and war anymore, hell, he and Phil literally moved to the middle of a freaking tundra, and every single time, right as things start looking up for good ol’ Technoblade, something always comes along to ruin it.
Accepting that he’s going to have to talk to the kid, he begrudgingly shrugs on his cape. It’s a baby blue, the same color as the clothes that Phil made them after moving to the tundra. When Tommy first joined him, he got one too, though Techno is willing to bet that it had been lost in the midst of the war between them, burnt or blown up.
“Techno! You have a visitor!” Phil’s voice rings through the clearing. Techno quietly thanks the gods that he has Phil. The man's his best friend, and Techno knew that he could rely on him to step in if things went south. He takes a moment to take a deep breath and push down the urge to punt the child on sight, making his way outside. He’s greeted with the sight of none other than Tommy himself, who suddenly looks very interested in his fingernails.
“What do you want?” Techno opts to ignore how Tommy takes a slight step back, staring straight at him with his eyes narrowed.
Tommy straightens up, a smile on his face. Techno chooses not to comment on how it’s very obviously faked. “Technoblade, my friend, my bro, how’s it going? It’s been a while, huh? Lovely place you got he-“
“Listen man, unlike you, I’ve got things to do. If you could tell me why you’re here, that would be great.” Techno crosses his arms, unimpressed.
Tommy falters, smile fading. “Oh, I mean, yeah, of course. Uh, I’m here for my stuff?” His voice lifts near the end, like he suddenly isn't very sure of why he's here anymore.
Techno raises an eyebrow. “It’s been weeks since Doomsday, why now?” And while Techno expects one of Tommy’s usual insults (“Why do you care, bitch?”), instead, all he receives is a noncommittal shrug.
“I dunno, man. I haven’t really done much since then, to be quite honest.” Tommy had started fidgeting with his hands by this point, clearly uncomfortable. With a sigh, Techno decides to just get this over with. If all goes well, this will take ten minutes of his time and then he’ll never have to see the kid again.
And with that, Techno leads Tommy inside his house to his storage room. He directs his brother to the chest holding his belongings, and stares at him with eyes narrowed for a moment. Tommy gulps. The threat is clear: don’t even think about stealing.
“Now hurry up, I don’t have all day.” Techno stands with his arms crossed in the doorway. He watches as Tommy hauls open the chest, which had in the few weeks it laid untouched gathered a fair bit of dust. Tommy starts slowly, with more care than Techno had ever seen in the boy, moving his things to the ratty backpack he brought with him. Techno occasionally glances outside at Phil, who had since moved on to feeding the dogs and was laughing as the small animals jumped around, excited to be fed.
“I’m done.” Techno turns his head to see Tommy closing the chest his belongings used to reside in. Afterward, he closes up his backpack and slings it onto his back, making his way over to where Techno is standing and standing eye to eye with his brother.
“Goodbye, Techno.”
Techno scoffs, “See you never, Theseus.”
Tommy stalls for a moment, as if he knows that once he steps out the doorway he will never be welcome back. Techno can’t help but think he looks so small now. There’s none of that same spark and determination that Tommy’s always had. In the back of his head, Techno wonders how much of that is his fault. He watches how, for a second, Tommy seems to consider turning around, saying something, but ultimately decides against it, and with a deep breath steps over the threshold of his brother’s house for the last time.
From the doorway, Techno watches him walk away until he’s just a speck in the distance. Phil does the same from a few feet away, and when neither of them can see the boy anymore Phil mutters a “good riddance.” Techno snorts and turns to enter his home again, Phil following close behind to get out of the harsh cold as the sun sets.
The two of them fall into comfortable silence for a while, Phil tending the fire as Techno makes dinner. It’s potato soup today, like it is every single other day. Techno determinedly doesn’t think about how in another timeline, Tommy would be sitting at the table or flopped on the couch, loudly complaining about “All we ever eat is potato soup, I’m sick of it Techno!”
He also ignores how the house feels a lot more empty now after Tommy left.
With the soup steadily cooking, Techno decides to check his storage room, just in case. Tommy, besides the near-constant stream of complaining, also had a habit of snatching things that weren’t his, and Techno wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again. Not that it affected him, he had resources to spare. But he's always been very precise about keeping inventory and that wasn't stopping now.
He quickly scans each chest, and to his pleasant surprise, nothing is out of place. He huffs out a laugh. It seems the kid finally realized not to mess with him. A little voice in his mind worries how Tommy didn’t even consider taking anything from the looks of it, but it quickly gets squashed. Techno does not hold any sympathy for that child, he tells himself. Tommy went against him, hell he fought a war against him, he doesn’t deserve Techno’s worry.
Finally, Techno reaches the last chest, the one that held all of Tommy’s things not even an hour ago. He opens it, not expecting to find anything sitting in it. Tommy definitely would've taken the things that Techno had given him when they were still friends (brothers, Techno's mind whispers). He had always been an insufferable kid. He had a penchant for taking what wasn't his and breaking things and being too loud and a million other things. Techno's glad he's gone, he thinks as he heaves open the chest.
The only thing left is a baby blue cape, and Techno wonders distantly if this is what guilt feels like.